All four school district locale groups received
significantly more money from the federal government in 2010 than they did in
2004 (see Graphic 6). On average, suburban, town and rural districts saw their
per-pupil federal revenue double. In city districts, federal funds grew by
71 percent on average. Among the 12 subgroups, per-pupil federal revenue
increases ranged from 58 percent (the small city subgroup) to
192 percent (the fringe town subgroup).[*]
These considerable increases were largely due to the American Reinvestment and
Recovery Act, which distributed an unprecedented amount of federal money to
school districts around the country starting in 2009.[16]

From 2004 to 2008,
per-pupil federal revenue grew modestly, though it increased more quickly in
suburban and rural locale groups than in the town locale group, while the city
locale group actually saw a slight decline. Through this period, though, the
city locale group still averaged about twice as much federal revenue per pupil
as any other. Since many federal revenues are apportioned based on the
enrollment of low-income students, it is not surprising that city and rural
locale groups were the largest and second-largest recipients, respectively, of
federal funding per pupil.

It is also
interesting to note DPS’ unique position among the 12 locale subgroups: It is
the only subgroup that has generally received more per-pupil federal revenue
than it has per-pupil local revenue. DPS’ per-pupil federal revenue exceeded
its per-pupil local revenue in six of the seven years from 2004 to 2010 (the
exception is 2008).[†]

Graphic 6: School District Revenue per Pupil From Federal
Sources by
Locale Subgroup, Michigan, Fiscal Years 2004-2010

[†] See Appendix B, Graphic 30 and Graphic 32. Detroit does not appear to be the only
Michigan school district where per-pupil federal revenue exceeded per-pupil
local revenue; Flint, Marion, Pickford and Beecher school districts may also
have received more federal funds than local funds per pupil in 2010. See
“2009-10 Bulletin 1014,” (Michigan Department of Education, 2011),
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/b101410_349994_7.pdf (accessed May 23,
2011).